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The latest game of the NBA 2k series, NBA 2k19 was released 5 days back on 7th September. It features the Greek Freak Giannis Antentokounmpo as its main cover athlete, along with a couple of other stars in different countries starring on the cover page in their home countries.
The ratings are mostly unsurprising, and one should always take these ratings with a pinch of salt when comparing these players' play in real life with each other. Some of the players are rated way too low relative to their real-life value to their teams, and understandably some youngsters have received terrific hype after a great playoff run.
Read on to find out who the top 10 players in this edition of NBA 2k are:
#10 Marc Gasol - 85
The Spaniard has adapted remarkably well to the changing trends of NBA basketball. A 3-point shooting league now more than ever, a lot of teams demand frontcourt players who can stretch the floor while being able to guard smaller players on switches defensively.
If only Gasol had age on his side, the creators of the newest 2k franchise wouldn't hesitate at rating him at 90 or above. Having lost a stride or two in speed as well as in bounce over the years, Gasol has become a lethal shooter from long range and is still an elite center in the league.
The Grizzlies' playoff push this year will hinge on how well he meshes with Mike Conley on both ends of the floor. The duo have been the backbone of the team for a long time now, and can reasonably be expected to bring their A-game this go-around.
#9 Hassan Whiteside - 85
A disappointing 2017-18 campaign that ended in playoff disappointment for Whiteside has rather clouded fans' perception of what the 7-footer is capable of.
There's a reason the Heat will shell out damn near a $100 million for the former Kings player, who broke through first in the 2015-16 season with what seemed like a season-long block party.
Whiteside is an extremely high-upside player in the mould of Steven Adams, DeAndre Jordan and Andre Drummond.
While his shenanigans out at the 3-point line during this summer are unlikely to translate to the NBA, it is clear that the 29-year-old is much more than just a roll man now.
A defensive anchor and a torrid rim-runner at his best, Whiteside would do well to earn his minutes in a rotation that now depends increasingly on Bam Adebayo and Kelly Olynyk for frontcourt production.
#8 DeAndre Jordan - 86
Now that Mark Cuban has finally gotten his man, 3 years after first being agonizingly spurned by DeAndre, the 7'1" center will have the opportunity to be the best player on a playoff-caliber roster, even if the stacked Western Conference ensures that the Mavericks miss out on the playoffs for another year.
Jordan is the kind of player who knows his strengths and plays to them. Over the course of the years, he's blossomed into a defensive force who alters shots in the paint rather than blocking them. He's also one of the most durable players in the league, having never sat out games with a major injury.
At 29, he's at the peak of his powers. A dominant rim-runner who currently leads the league in field goal percentage over the course of their careers, Jordan has several productive years ahead of him in the NBA.
#7 Al Horford - 86
'Average Al' is easily the most underrated All-Star, All-NBA caliber player in the world today. If you're somebody who believes that statlines ultimately determine how good a player is, you will never view Horford the way basketball people do.
Honestly, at the time of writing, there is not a single thing on the court that Horford does not do at an elite level. Anchoring the best defense in the league? Check. Guarding the opposition point guard on a switch? You got it. Knocking down 3-pointers at a top-10 rate across the league? Yeah, check that too.
Horford is, outside of LeBron James, the most complete basketball player on the planet, even if the things that he's best at aren't comparable to The King's utter domination of the basketball court.
There is nothing that he can't do, and with an ultra-talented team around him in Boston, Horford is quietly living up to his well-deserved max contract at the peak of his game.
#6 Rudy Gobert - 87
Rudy Gobert is the best defender in the world today, bar none. Having been snubbed despite some stellar play in the 2016-17 season, his impact on the Jazz's fortunes this season put everyone around the NBA on notice, and then people started noticing how the entirety of Utah's defensive schemes center around funneling opponents into his path.
The Salt Lake City truly was Swat Lake City during the second half of the season, as the Jazz won 29 of their last 35 games, garnered the 5th seed and went on to the second round of the playoffs with Gobert as their most important, best player.
There are times when Gobert's lumbering frame doesn't allow the Jazz to be the same, especially against small-ball lineups. But by and large, Rudy is the best conventional center in the league today, and an 87 rating for him is apt.
#5 Andre Drummond - 87
One of the most overlooked and underrated players in the league, Andre Drummond is unequivocally the best rebounder in the world today, and has been historically good for about 4 seasons now.
Having come into the league as a severely limited player who got by on size and athleticism alone, Drummond has successfully added several crucial nuances to his game. Once the worst free throw shooter in the NBA, he used last season to improve his free throw percentage from a dastardly 38.6% in 2016-17 to 60.5% in 2017-18.
He's also become a capable playmaker, and is often the player handing the ball off to runners whenever the Pistons are playing the loop. Now adding a 3-point shot to his repertoire in the offseason, Drummond, at the age of 25, still has his best days ahead of him by conventional wisdom.
#4 Nikola Jokic - 89
Jokic is a historically great passer. Consider this stat: No center has averaged 17 points, 10 rebounds and 6 assists in the past 50 years. The last person to do so, was, inevitably, Wilt Chamberlain, whose name is all over NBA record books and folklore as the most dominant player of all time in his prime.
Jokic has the potential to be one of the most potent offensive weapons in NBA history. He can bring the ball up the court and set his teammates up in true point guard fashion, and his ability to find cutters and open men at the 3-point line truly is second to none.
Only last season, Jokic became the player to record the fastest triple-double in NBA history, doing so in 14 minutes and 33 seconds while beating the previous record which stood at 17 minutes. He's truly a unicorn, and health permitting, will be one of the most watchable players in the league for years to come.
#3 Joel Embiid - 90
Joel 'The Process' Embiid is the best two-way center in the league, bar none. If his rookie 2016-17 season was a foreboding sign of things to come from him, he made sure the following season that everyone would sit up and take notice of the humongously talented player that he is, a proper unicorn in every sense of the word.
Embiid is a monster from the low-post, bringing joy back to old-school basketball fans who feast on such play. In addition, he has 3-point range (if only a bit inefficiently), can pass well out of double teams, sets mean picks and can take on his opponents off the dribble as well as just a pure shooter.
He is arguably as good a defender as an offensive force, restricting players to just under 42% conversion in the 0-10 feet range from the basket while averaging nearly 12 rebounds and 2 blocks per game.
#2 DeMarcus Cousins - 90
Boogie's rating has fallen off a cliff now that he's out for a total of about a calendar year with an Achilles tear, but there's still every chance that when he comes back fully fit (whether this season or later) that he'll get back to the mid-90s rating that he amassed midway through his season with the Pelicans in 2017-18.
One of the most complete players in the league today, Cousins is essentially a prototypical 'unicorn' - a big man who can do everything on offense from initiating set plays as the ballhandler to being the roll man on those same pick-and-roll plays. Not a single team in the league would be happy to face an emotionally charged Cousins.
Signing with the Warriors was the best possible decision for him at this crucial juncture of his career, and affords him the opportunity to rid himself of the 'locker room cancer' tag that has, in my view, been unfairly attached to him.
#1 Karl-Anthony Towns - 91
The No.1 overall pick in the 2015 NBA draft, Karl-Anthony Towns is probably the most proven prospect from the last 3 draft classes so far. Just after his second season ended in 2017, the preseason GM survey for the 2017-18 season found KAT #1 on GMs' list of players they would prefer to build around the most.
There's good reason for that. Towns might already be the most efficient center in NBA history in addition to being one of the top-5 most skilled. A growth spurt in high school helped him translate guard-like skills with those of post-up players, resulting in him being as good while facing up defenders as he is while backing them down in the low post - he's elite at both.
Last season, Towns became the only center in NBA history to slash 50/40/85 shooting splits while averaging over 20 points per game. Even with his defensive lapses taken into account, that's a pretty damn impressive season for a player aged only 22 right now.
